December Night Tranquillity
by Dr. Breifs Cat
Summary: G Gundam. Post-series. Domon and Rain decide how far they want to take their relationship.


**December Night Tranquillity**

                His lips were sticky and his mind was fuzzy with champagne.  A pleasantly warm feeling seemed to have overtaken his entire being and he laid back in the grass, propping himself up on his elbows.  The night air was freezing, but he was for once too content to care.  The blue-black of the sky was speckled with stars and Domon Kasshu absently wondered in a quasi-drunk sort of way why he never noticed how beautiful they were before.

                It wasn't just the stars; there was a goodness in everything that he hadn't seen before.  The world itself had slowed down since yesterday.  He felt like a blind man who suddenly regained sight; a drowning man who finally surfaced for a breath of air.  A splash of color, like red on white.

                "Tranquillity," he whispered.

                "Domon?" questioned the woman by his side.  She sat in the grass, her knees drawn up to her chest, shivering in the December breeze.  Her dress was red.  He adored red.  The day before, she had gone shopping, citing they needed evening wear for the two-fold celebration being held in the name of the destruction of the Devil Gundam and the end of the Gundam Fight.  He needed a tuxedo for the event, so she had brought him with her.  She let him choose her dress and it was red.

                "When Schwarz taught me to control the Shining Gundam's Super Mode, the key was Tranquillity of Still Water..." he trailed off, wondering why he suddenly thought of such a thing.

                "What made you think of that?" Rain asked.

                "I don't know," Domon replied, his voice smooth and his eyes drifting shut.  "Maybe because it's so peaceful."

                "What's it like?"

                "What?"

                "The water tranquillity."

                "It's..." he faltered, "calm."

                "Oh," she answered.  She wrapped her arms about her knees.  On an intellectual level, Rain knew Domon wasn't good at articulating his ideas.  He would never be able to explain it in a way that would let her understand the way he did.  Yet a small part of her feared maybe he just couldn't tell her because they were so different.

                "I like it," he said finally.  "A strong fighter is one who knows why he fights.  With Still Water Tranquillity, I know.  I can see it."

                "What do you see?"

                Domon sat up and wondered why a random comment should spark such a conversation.  Still, that pleasant feeling of late was still with him, so he told her.  Besides, keeping things from her never had beneficial results and he did so hate to lie to her.  He saw his family and his friends and, of course, he saw her.  The vision of Rain was last, the catalyst that made it all happen.  He had even called her name that first time, when he fought against Schwarz in the Gundam Speigel with nothing but that old rusty sword to protect himself with.  Of course, he didn't tell her that.  Some things he just didn't like to say.  Maybe he would tell her someday.

                "That's what I saw," Rain said suddenly and quickly, as though the fact just dawned on her and she needed to say it before it would be forgotten, never to be drug up from the depths of her subconscious again, "when I transferred the battle data from Shining Gundam to God Gundam."

                "It's why I fight," Domon answered, "of course you would."

                "I think I'm jealous you see the others before you see me," Rain teased.  "And you keep spouting snide remarks about your male friendships."

                "Rain!" Domon cried in exasperation, "Would you drop it already?"  He made a show of falling backwards so that he was lying on his back in the grass again.  "Don't be stupid."

                She giggled.  "Like that."

                Domon smiled up at her, pleased that he had made her laugh.  He had trouble recalling a time when he had done that before.  Probably, he reflected, he hadn't.  At least, not since they were kids.  Seeing his smile, Rain cupped his head in her hands, one at his forehead, the other at his chin, leaned down and over and kissed him.

                Domon tasted overwhelmingly of stale champagne and Rain made a face.  "How much did you drink at the party?" she asked.  Rain herself had only had one and a half or so glasses.  Champagne, despite its reputation, was an acquired taste.  Rain didn't drink enough to get used to the way it seemed to burn all the way down.

                He shrugged.  Domon didn't really remember.  Champagne had a nice taste to it and it was so much more mild than what he normally drank.  He had quite a bit, he knew that much.  Enough to get him mildly tipsy, and that was with his particularly high level of alcohol tolerance.

                "You drink too much," Rain sighed.  "I guess can see why you would..." she trailed off.

                By this time, Domon wasn't really listening to her anymore.  The way she looked in that red dress with the backdrop of stars from the sky and the lights from the city in the distance had caught his attention.  He stared in some sort of trance that could really only be described as awe.  He _had noticed how beautiful __she was before, but it still could catch him off guard._

                "Domon?" Rain asked, realizing she had lost his attention.

                "Hn?" He snapped out of it.

                "What are you thinking?"  Rain queried.  "Right now?"

                "What I'm thinking...  I..." he looked toward her eyes, seeing an inquisitive expression on her face and in her blue pools.  She wasn't angry that he had tuned her out, only wondering what was so much more interesting.  The words that slipped from his mouth were the same that surfaced in his mind. 

                "Marry me."

                Rain blushed.  Of course, Domon wasn't really proposing, it was just what he had been thinking; it boiled down to he only said it because she asked.  She was surprised that such ideas were passing through his thoughts, though.  "Domon," she said.  It was all she could think to say.

                "You already promised to be with me forever," Domon said, sitting up again.  "I'm not going to let you break that promise.  It's the same thing."

                "That's true," Rain replied, wondering why she never thought of it like that.  Being a wife was just _different from being a girlfriend, she supposed.  The commitment was greater, all encompassing. "But," she continued, "there's a lot more to it.  Marriage is..everything you are.  You share your entire self."_

                "All of my victories of the past year are yours as well.  Everything we have is ours.  I'm here now because you stood by my side no matter what.  It's no different."

                "Domon."

                "We've already shared everything," he continued.  "My hand glows with the image of a heart," The crest appeared as Domon rested his right hand on Rain's, "It's calling me to grasp hold of yours forever."  He squeezed her hand.  "Just say it.  Say that you'll marry me."  

                "I'll marry you," Rain replied finally, "if it's what will make you happy."

                "I'm sorry, Rain," Domon said then and Rain looked at him, alarmed.  She didn't know what he could see to apologize for.  "I don't have a ring for you..."

                She laughed again and squeezed his hand back.  "That's fine.  We can get one another day."  They leaned in and kissed again, sealing the promise.  Their arms encircled each other and after touching her cheek for a moment, Domon broke the kiss.

                "You're freezing.  Why didn't you say anything?"

                "You seemed so relaxed," Rain said, "I didn't want to ruin it."

                "Don't be stupid," Domon chided.  "We've been out here long enough anyway."  That was true; Rain hadn't been wearing a watch and Domon didn't even own one, but if they had been able to check the time, they would have seen that nearly two hours had passed since they made their leave of the party in downtown Neo-Hong Kong.  

                Domon stood up and looped one arm around Rain's shoulders and the other under her knees and lifted her.

                "Should I," Rain remarked as she brushed an errant blade of grass from Domon's shoulder, "get used to this?"  Domon shrugged; the motion jostled Rain and she wound her arm tighter around him.  He carried her to the God Gundam's Core Lander and set her gently behind the pilot's chair before hopping in himself and starting the hovercraft's engine.  He made a few wide circles to warm it up and get a foot or so of elevation before speeding back towards the Neo-Hong Kong.

                Inside the city limits, the manmade lights drowned out nature's stars.  The bustle of the city and the product of the sweat and toil of so many people for so many years had a beauty of its own.

                The tranquillity, however, was lost.

                "Domon!" Rain screeched as she clung to the seat in front of her, "Could you at least _try to stay on the road?!"_

**Sore de wa... Gundam Fight!  Ready?  Go!**

Disclaimers: Mobile Fighter G Gundam and all related characters, such as Domon and Rain, are owned by Sunrise and the Sotsu Agency, which I believe is actually a division of Sunrise.  Bandai factors in there somewhere, but as I've said in the past, I don't know where.  I imagine I should also make a nod to 'Straya, who was the first person to use a post-series party in a [English language] fic.  (Personally, I think that's kind of unnecessary since they just saved the world and all and a big party is a natural next step, but someone *coughKatiecough* would throw a fit if I didn't.

Author Notes: If you are so much in love that you can use that love to create a giant Charlemene, I see no reason to wait to get married.  C'mon, that's the one!  (Supposedly, each King in a deck of cards is based on a medieval king, the KoH being the French king Charlemene.)  


End file.
